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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Sunday, 14 December 2014

Just a short
one before shooting off to the DAP National Congress 14th December
at One City Convention Centre, Subang Jaya.

It’s easy to
detect the dictatorial tendencies during the 2014 UMNO General Assembly. The
UMNO led government is reviving the sedition act- which it will use mostly to silence
its critics; the belligerent and bellicose talks that emanated from the assembly
will be used as an expression of the will of the people, thereby giving UMNO
the reason to apply draconian laws on our citizens.

The recent
UMNO general assembly demonstrated once again that UMNO is a party of mobs
inciting people to break order and law. There is always one who shouts the
loudest above the din- his name is Najib Tun Razak and he is the leader of the
mob party. The hallmarks of a mob parry are the twisting of truth, stirring of
passions, demonising opponents and relying on propagandistic narrations in
place of ideas that move people.

UMNO is no
longer believable among the better informed masses, the urban dwellers who read
alternative information. Instead UMNOappeals to the least informed and weakest minded members of the public. Their
base consist of akademi fantasia
moms, the jom heboh crowd, struggling actresses who join PUTERI UMNO, Utusan
Malaysia and Gila2 readers, welfare recipients, and heads-up-their-asses government
rich and new rich by way of licenses and APs and gifted projects, ,Bangsar
Shopping Complex loafersand of course
the government workers who can never be laid off. It’s easier to round up these
people by frightening them about assault on race, religion and regent.

The promise of
a smaller government that Najib made was a farce. Instead, Najib hasn’t lost
any opportunity to expand the tentacles of government to strangle the lives of
the people. The UMNO led government is a menace to individual freedom. By individual
freedom we don’t mean the freedom to do anything as we please- that’s a disingenuous
way to disarm our arguments offered by UMNO couch potatoes and feeble minded
drones. By individual freedom we mean free from the coercion of others. The greatest threat
to such freedom is of course a panic stricken government.

A panic
stricken government acts on mob impulses. A mob as we know is an irrational,
childlike, often violent and martial-spirited organism. It is always looking
out for a fight. It derives its energy from the group of regimented minds. The mob
is motivated by messianic goals (crush all those who threaten race, religion
and Regent), the promise of instant gratification, adrenaline-pumping exhortations.
What’s more adrenaline pumping that to put blame of our miseries on others?

The mob creates
mayhem, chaos and destruction providing the leaders of the mob an excuse to stay
in power. That was what took place during the UMNO General Assembly of 2014. UMNO
and Najib want to stay in power to plunder, deceive and bully the nation.

Clearly UMNO
is in a state of panic. It will not admit nor can we force UMNO to admit it. It’s
no use hiding its insecurities behind swashbuckling shouts and combative words.
Maybe the UMNO cannon fodders have forgotten that BN got only 47% of the
popular votes which meant they lost the people’s trust. What saved them were technicalities,
malrepresented constituencies and massive cheating. Increasingly UMNO can only
rely on Malay votes that are fed with fears and tales of threats.

The new voters
voting for the first time in the next GE, are not likely to vote UMNO. They no longer
find UMNO believable. What took place during the UMNO Assembly of 2014 has
fortified voters angst against UMNO. So much so, the DPM is on record saying
that if there is a 2% vote swing to the opposition, BN will sent packing off
from Puratajya.Let us make Muhyidin’s
fear a reality by vying BN out in the next GE14.

The generation
Y( why, why , why) who will vote for the first time in GE14 won’t vote UMNO. This
is not only because the young is by nature adventurous and sometimes rebellious,
but also because they have acquired a higher level of social consciousness. This
is caused in part by the explosion of information via the internet and also the
result of personal education.

The higher
level of social consciousness has produced one profound realization and revelation;
the younger generation is now more conscious that no one community or race in Malaysia
can fight for its rights in isolation; because once we subscribe to that
concept, we are forever at loggerheads and collision. Instead, there is now a
realization that any one community’s fight for rights must be part of a larger
universal right belonging to the individual and the citizen of this country.

We all know
the inalienable right to live , have freedom and pursue happiness. Politically this
is translated as every citizen’s right to be governed by a good government founded
on the principles of the rule of law, dispensing policies that are fair, just
and democratic. We all have the right to have a government led by the ablest
Malaysians, dedicated and committed to social justice.

Dato,your let's show "Muhyiddin the broomstick in GE14" remark,I wish I was as confident as you.

Looking back,I was pretty confident that PR had a very good shot at giving the Umno/BN the broomstick in GE 13.That was when the local warlords in Sabah joined PKR.

But when the peninsular PKR leaders wanted to sit on their faces,they threatened to leave.Then they had a pillow talk,and whoever sat on whom's faces I do not know.Then when things seem to settle down,it happen all over again.And this time many of the local Sabah warlords left PKR for good.

If things had looked good in Sabah,PR would have made inroads into Sarawak too.Then things would have been different.In fact a few more parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak would have made a world of difference.The morale among grassroots in the peninsular would have shot up the roof.

And PKR even wanted to sit on the faces of the mosquito party called PSM,which was just standing for a couple of seats in Parliament and state.These stupid leaders preferred to screw themselves at the expense of shoving the big stick deep into Umno/BN's asses.

And these same leaders are still running the show in PKR and PR.And we just have to look at the mess of the Kajang circus of clowns to figure out how well PR can do in GE14.

In GE 13,everyone knew that the infighting and back stabbing inside Umno,had made the party very vulnerable in the GE.Mca,Mic and Gerakan was sinking into the quicksand.And after all was said and done,Umno/BN still sat comfortably in Putrajaya.

If the PR cannot deliver the KO punch when the enemy was on it's knees,how can the PR deliver the KO punch to the enemy when it is on it's feet jumping around like Muhammad Ali's sting like a bee in GE14?

The PKR and PR needs lots of over hauling.Only a new brand of young leaders who are capable of seeking the trust and convincing the supporters of BN to desert the useless sinking Umno/BN ship will have a chance of turning the tide.Or else bite the big stick and feel the pain in GE14.

It was really unbecoming and irresponsible Dato Sak, for both Zahid Hamidi and Najib Razak to show scenes of the May 13 Tragedy and the beheading of the American hostages by the ISIS/ISIL terrorists... what was in their minds? Bangang!!!

1/4 “We all have the right to have a government led by the ABLEST Malaysians, DEDIDATED and COMMITTED to SOCIAL JUSTICE” — that this simple and fair demand has to be made at this point of our national political life speaks volumes of the state of affairs we are currently confronting; are we in danger of being underwhelmed by a group made up of the LEAST able?Below shows how a statesman confronts the issues of good governance, social justice, national development, personal courage and learning from the past. The man is none other than ex-Malaysian and one-time Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, the late S. Rajaratnam. Let him articulate his thoughts to demonstrate the breadth and depth of a thinker and nation-builder extraordinaire. Pity that he chose to walk away from our shores, but he has left behind a niece in Kuala Lumpur who has a mind as sharp as his, thank God.“I think I should begin by declaring what vested interest, if any, I have in the Singapore of the year 2000. Regrettably, I have none. The probabilities are that I may not be around to ring in the new century but if, through a genetic windfall, I should be given a reprieve, you can take it from me that even then, for all practical purposes, I will be nearer eternity than the year 2000.…So while thinking many steps ahead may not ensure success in every case, it is nevertheless true that those societies which think many steps ahead are more likely to do better in the uncertain decades ahead than other societies which only think one step at a time or which, frightened by the future, takes one step back towards the lost and unrecoverable Golden Age…So this brings me to the next and most crucial question implicit in the topic you have set out for me. And it is this: Granted that Singapore is future-oriented, is that enough to see it through into the 21st century?My answer is: NO, it is NOT enough. Something far more important than being able to make INFORMED GUESSES about the future is necessary to see Singapore safely through the turbulent and dangerous decades ahead. Even if you can make correct guesses about future trends and developments and even if you stumble on the correct solutions, the decisive factor is NOT knowledge BUT the determination and courage to ACT upon it. Without this will to action, knowledge and perception about the future are USELESS. There are nations which have perished because they did not know how to save themselves. They should enlist our pity. But it is a tragedy of greater proportions when a people perish NOT out of IGNORANCE but because they LACKED the WILL to respond to the DICTATES of their wisdom.The rise and fall of great civilisations can eventually be traced NOT to irresistible, impersonable forces of history, but to a single human factor – FAILURE OF NERVE.…(Machiavelli) said all societies were moved by two forces. He distinguished between what he called FORTUNA—the capriciousness of history — and VIRTU the ability of a ruler to show mastery admist the flux of things. Fortuna comprises the objective forces of history stemming from economic, social, cultural, political and technological changes. These are like winds. They are unpredictable, they are impersonal and they can be destructive.But a ruler or people who HAVE virtu can harness and tame these winds to serve men’s needs; to build GREAT civilisations. It is the PRESENCE or LOSS of virtu in RULERS and PEOPLE which decides the FATE of societies and civilisations.

2/4So the question arises: ‘How is virtu acquired and lost?’ This fundamental question has fascinated thinkers since time immemorial. UNABLE to resolve this question, they INVARIABLY PINNED RESPONSIBILITY on the CREATOR. It was PUNISHMENT for men’s WICKEDNESS and this view has wide appeal EVEN today in the face of a contemporary world seemingly near collapse.I too have been thinking about this problem since receiving your invitation to address this seminar. I happened at the same time to be also thinking about Ayatollah Khomeini. Since the Ayatollah claims to be spearheading an Islamic Revolution I decided to supplement my meagre knowledge of Islamic civilisation by studying its rise and decline a little more closely. I therefore sought the advice of PROFESSOR (SYED) HUSSEIN ALATAS who promptly loaned me a massive three-volume work entitled MUQUADDIMAH: An Introduction to History.I was doubtful whether it would be worth my while ploughing through these massive tomes. For one thing it was written by a man called IBN KHALDOUN whom I have never heard of and who is rarely mentioned by modern historians.Moreover, the work was completed in 1377. Of what relevance, I asked myself, could the outpourings of a man from over 600 years ago be to our times let alone the year 2000?I was NEVER MORE WRONG my life. This 14th century Berber, a descendant of one of the Prophet’s supporter, is so contemporary that modern historians in comparison appear traditional. The Ayatollah is certainly less an enigma to me now than before I read Ibn Khaldoun, though I doubt whether the Ayatollah will be as relevant as Khaldoun in the year 2000. It is incredible that this 14th century man should have ANTICIPATED ideas about man and society, about jurisprudence, geopolitics, power, religion, war and peace and many of the great themes about the rise and fall of civilisations centuries BEFORE thinkers like VICO, MARX, SPENGLER and TOYNBEE elaborated them with greater wealth of detail.…We must remember too that in his time Islamic civilisation was the DOMINANT one in Europe and Africa. The Muslim faith, philosophy and law made up the TOWER from which he points out to his contemporaries and to us new and wider horizons which NO man BEFORE or even AFTER him had discovered until very recently. He nevertheless looks on his environment with a detachment and objectivity that was NOT to be surpassed until CENTURIES later by Western man. He states facts. He observes. He KNOWS the GLORIOUS PAST OF HIS OWN CIVILISATION. He KNOWS the Caliphate represented the BEST, the IDEAL state. But he is AWARE too that it is GONE and he does NOT WANT TO RESTORE IT. He CONCEDES that government based on REVEALED LAW is superior to that based on HUMAN LAW. This may be OBVIOUS, he says, but it is IRRELEVANT for HISTORY moves according to the ways of MEN and NOT of God.…He allots to ALL civilisations a FINITE LIFE-SPAN of about 120 years spread over THREE generations of FORTY years each. In the FOURTH generation the END is reached and by the FIFTH, the FINAL DEATH spasms.… What sparks off a civilisation in the first place? He attributes it to a special human quality which he calls ASABIYYA. It means GROUP SOLIDARITY but it takes different forms and meanings at DIFFERENT stages of civilisation. It is initially generated only in the desert among BARBARIAN tribes. In fact, it can ONLY be generated in the desert. In the Arab context, it HAD to be the desert…What Khaldoun means is that asabiyya has to be built up through HARDSHIP and GREAT austerity…Though Ibn Khaldoun wrote of the nomads WITH detestation as DESTROYERS of culture and NOT its creators, he ADMIRED their ASABIYYA— their COURAGE, TOUGHNESS, their SELF-RELIANCE and above all their SOLIDARITY and FELLOWSHIP.

3/4…The men with asabiyya, headed by a great leader or Prophet, then taking over a DYING civilisation and thus begins a sedentary culture — a city culture. Khaldoun makes clear while the desert generates asabiyya, only the city can create civilisation. As long as the spirit of asabiyya PREVAILS, the FIRST GENERATION ruler exercises power JUSTLY and WISELY. The law is fairly applied…The ruler, says Khaldoun, does NOT claim anything exclusively for himself because such an attitude would DESTROY group solidarity. Given this kind of ruler, order PREVAILS and art and learning FLOURISH. OUT of the ashes of the OLD civilisations a GREATER and MORE vibrant culture EMERGES.The next FOUR stages are one of PROGRESSIVE DECLINE. The EASY democracy of the first stage VANISHES as the new ruler claims TOTAL authority over his people. Authority is NO LONGER shared. He becomes a TYRANT demanding subjects who MUST manifest servility and unquestioned obedience. The asabiyya is being DRAINED out of them. DISCONTENT and RESENTMENT dissolve group solidarity. The tyrant is SUCCEEDED by VAIN-GLORIOUS rulers also lacking in asabiyya. THEY BUILD MONUMENTS AND PALACES TO TESTIFY TO NOTHING. They HIRE mercenaries to PROTECT themselves from a people they NOW fear and NO longer trust. NEPOTISM and CORRUPTION become the rule of law. The BURDEN of taxation GROWS and the INCENTIVE to CREATE WEALTH consequently DIES. Then COMES the ruler ‘who is content with what his predecessors have built’. Since his civilisation has LOST ITS CAPACITY FOR GROWTH, the ruler TRIES to ARREST its DECLINE by REVIVING and ADHERING strictly to OLD RITUALS and MEANINGLESS TRADITIONS.And finally the death pangs of a great civilisation. Here I can do no better than quote Khaldoun himself:‘The FIFTH stage is one of WASTE and SQUANDERING. In this stage, the ruler WASTES on PLEASURES AND AMUSEMENTS (the treasures) accumulated by his ancestors through (excessive) GENEROSITY to his INNER CIRCLE at their parties. Also he acquires BAD, LOW CLASS class followers to whom he ENTRUSTS the most important matters (of state) which they are not qualified to handle by themselves…(In addition) the ruler seeks to DESTROY the GREAT CLIENTS of HIS people and FOLLOWERS of his predecessors. Thus they come to HATE him and to CONSPIRE to refuse support for him. (Furthermore) he LOSES a number of soldiers by SPENDING THEIR ALLOWANCES on HIS PLEASURES and by REFUSING them access to his person and not supervising them properly…Thus he RUINS the foundations his ancestors HAD laid and TEARS down what they HAD built up. In this stage the dynasty is SEIZED by SENILITY and the chronic disease from which it can hardly ever RID itself, for which it can find NO cure, and, eventually, it is DESTROYED.’He might well be describing with deadly accuracy the state of many nations in 1979.He goes on to add that the END of the dynasty is CLEARLY in sight when the HARD-UP ruler, UNABLE TO SQUEEZE his subjects any further, TAKES PART in trade and commerce and tries to MONOPOLISE it to the DETRIMENT of his trading subjects.By then, the ASABIYYA, bred in the desert, has been drained of its LAST drop. The CITY, the soil of true civilisation, has become WASTELAND. What happens then? A new lot of desert nomads bursting with asabiyya take over the dying city to once again RESTORE vigour and once again to suffer the same fate.In a way, Singapore was built by nomads, though none of us came from the desert. Our forefathers had asabiyya and this has seen us through for a little over the 120 years that Khaldoun allotted a dynasty. On second thoughts, he was NOT all that wrong because it took that many years for the British dynasty to retreat from Singapore.

…World civilisation is too pervasive for it to collapse and vanish totally. In the 21st century there may be collapse of individual states which have not woken to the facts of life about the 21st century. But those who are awake to it and do not squander their asabiyya or virtu in the pursuit of wealth and progress can break the circle that Khaldoun said could not be broken, although at times he had wished that it could be.

By telling us in his enthralling Introduction to History how and why civilisations suffer mortality, he has also offered a prescription for its immortality. IF YOU KNOW WHY YOU WENT WRONG YOU COME CLOSER TO DONG THINGS RIGHT.

…For Singapore the next two decades will be a matter of learning to steer safely through FORTUNA — the capricious play of world forces. To steer successfully we need what MACHIAVELLI called VIRTU, what Khaldoun called asabiyya and, if I may add a widow’s mite, a future-oriented outlook …”

Extracted from a speech, pg 231-240, truncated for brevity, made by S Rajaratnam, Senior Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore, titled Political Developments Towards the Year 2000 at a seminar organised by the Singapore Association for the Advancement of Science on December 20, 1979, from S Rajaratnam – The Prophetic & the Political, edited by Chan Heng Chee & Obaid Ul Haq (Graham Brash 1987; ISBN 9971-49-041-2: 540pg),

In the seeds of Umno fascism is perhaps the role of the malay feudal elements which historically were embedded in ruthlesness and blatant use of naked force as per much of the written and spoken annals.